Event Details

Talk/Forum: Kahlil Gibran: The Spiritual, Social and Political Vision in his Life and Writings, 25 October 2019

Event: Talk/Forum: Kahlil Gibran: The Spiritual, Social and Political Vision in his Life and Writings.

Speaker: Neil Douglas-Klotz.

Chair: Ken Webb.

Panellists: The Rev'd Canon John McLuckie and Nancy Van Kirk.

Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.Date: Friday 25 October 2019.Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Talk/Forum: 7pm-8.45pm.Event Description: While best known for his book The Prophet, Lebanese author Kahlil Gibran's deepest spiritual work has often been ignored in favor of mining (and mangling) his writings for trite sayings that show up in greeting cards and motivational wall plaques. This evening is part of an effort to reclaim Gibran as a native Middle Eastern writer whose work attempted to bridge the diverse culture of early 20th century modernity with that of rural Syria and Lebanon. As a migrant and refugee, Gibran also wrote vigorous political critiques of European betrayal of the post-World War I Middle East as well as helped found the first Arabic writer's guild in the United States. The talk will share selections from throughout Gibran's work. One could easily argue that what the average reader of his time found exotic in Gibran was the way he clearly expressed a region that most regarded as a conundrum. A hundred years later, understanding this conundrum has moved beyond being an exotic pastime to becoming a matter of survival.

Neil Douglas-Klotz is the editor of four new collections of the works of Kahlil Gibran, which take a fresh look at Gibran's words and wisdom taking into account the major influences on his life: his Middle Eastern culture, nature mysticism and spirituality. He has also authored various books on Middle Eastern language, culture and spirituality, including Prayers of the Cosmos, Desert Wisdom, The Hidden Gospel and The Little Book of Sufi Stories.